Coming Home
by Fast As A Shark
Summary: On the way home from Gongmen City, Po, Shifu, and the Furious Five make an unscheduled stop in a place that only one of them recognizes. While there, revelations are made and an event from Gongmen comes back to haunt one, with potentially serious consequences. This is my first entry here. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.


Coming Home

It was the day after the final battle to free Gongmen City. By now, Po, Shifu, and the Furious Five set out on a boat ride back home to the Valley of Peace. Despite it being mid-afternoon, everyone was still very tired from the victory party thrown in their honor. Even long after the events of the mission transpired, two undeniable facts still surprised many of the warriors of the Jade Palace. First, how Po managed to survive a nearly point-blank blast from Shen's largest cannon. Second, Shifu was still dumbfounded how it took him nearly 50 years to achieve inner peace while Po only took a few days to achieve the same thing. Of course, Po did admit he had a great teacher. Between that and the fact that he had to confront his past during the mission to free Gongmen City, it was no wonder he had achieved inner peace so quickly.

As the boat kept sailing on, Po noticed a familiar site: His birth village. He had ended up floating there in the river after being shot out of the fireworks factory. He easily recognized it from both the flashbacks of his youth there and his recovery there with the Soothsayer's help. Before Po could say anything, the boat pulled ashore to fix a problem with the mast.

"Why are we stopping here?" Shifu asked the boat captain.

"Got a problem with the mast, sir," replied the boat captain. Sure enough, the support bracket for the mast was showing some cracks from excess wear and tear, and would need to be replaced.

"That would explain why the boat has been weaving around so much," added Po.

"How long do you think it will take to get the mast fixed?" asked Crane.

"I'm not sure right now," the captain responded. "I'll let you know when it's ready."

Unsure how long they would be waiting, everyone debarked from the boat and began exploring the abandoned village where they had arrived. There wasn't much of a hint as to who the former inhabitants could possibly be. Po, on the other hand, was the only one who recognized this place as the village where he was born. He was the only warrior of the Jade Palace who knew exactly what happened here. He had avenged his fellow pandas who did not survive Shen's genocidal raid on the village, although he didn't know if any did. The fate of his parents was still unknown to him, but Po could still take comfort in knowing that the monster who had all but wiped them out got what was coming to him.

"Where are we?" asked Mantis.

"I don't know," Viper answered back.

"Whatever this is, it's a wreck," added Monkey.

Po heard that, but had no comeback. Despite not liking hearing his birth village being called a wreck, the truth was staring him in the face. Shen's attack had left the village in ruins that were almost lost forever to the tides of time. At this point, Tigress noticed something on a building wall that caught her attention. It was a mural that showed the panda village back when it was a thriving one. It occurred to her immediately that this was an old burned-out panda village.

"Uh, I think this might explain where we are," said Tigress as she drew the attention of her teammates to the mural she found.

The wall painting depicted several pandas working a rice field near where the village stood. Nearby were several other similar paintings depicting various scenes, including kite-flying, children playing, and numerous other scenes of the village's better days. The story that the Five appeared to see in the paintings was this village with so many happy residents in what appeared to be a society based on love of life. While not quite a utopia, it wasn't too far off from being one.

"So, this is an old panda village?" asked Mantis.

"Sure looks that way," replied Viper. "I wonder if this is where Po hails from."

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Tigress.

At point, she noticed Po standing by himself in a clearing within the village. He was clutching the small toy panda he found when he awoke here after being treated for his injuries by the Soothsayer. As he stood there, he kept reminiscing about his memories from his early childhood in this village in which he was born. Concerned, Tigress approached where Po was standing. Despite being unsure whether or not he wanted company, she proceeded over to his location, perhaps on the belief she'd have an answer one way or another.

"You okay?" Tigress asked.

"Yeah," Po replied. "Just reminiscing."

"So, this must be your old home," added Tigress.

"That's right," said Po. "This is the village I was born in. After getting hit by Shen's largest cannon, I ended up floating down the river here and was rescued by the Soothsayer."

"Me and the others found a painting on one of the building walls and had a hunch that this was an old panda village," Tigress put in. "What was it like here?"

"I don't remember much of it," Po answered. "I didn't have much time to spend here before Shen's raid destroyed this village, and probably every panda here. My mother died, presumably, trying to save me. She hid me in a crate full of radishes so I would be safe. She then went and lured Shen and two members of his army away from me. I don't know what happened to my father. He ordered Mom to take me and run away while he stayed behind to fight off Shen's army. Beyond that, I have no memory of what happened."

Just like she was when Po revealed his reason for wanting to go confront Shen, Tigress was in shock when she heard Po reveal what he found out earlier. This was certainly not something she was expecting to hear.

"Well, I'm sure they'd be very proud of you, Po," Tigress said after the surprise of Po's answer to her earlier question wore off. At that point, something that been on her mind since the battle at Gongmen City came back to the surface in her memory and she needed an answer from Po.

"Po, before it slips my mind, I need to ask you something."

"Okay," said Po as he did an about-face and walked back towards Tigress.

"After you defeated Shen, and I pulled you out of the river and said how hardcore you were in that battle," said Tigress before finally getting to her question. "What made you hug me?"

Po was caught by surprise. After a few seconds, an answer came to him.

"I guess I felt I owed you one, after the one you gave me when we were in Gongmen Jail for the second time," Po answered.

"I see," added Tigress.

"Why, did I surprise you with it?" Po asked.

"Yeah," replied Tigress. "Then again, I probably did the same to you."

"You did," put in Po. "But I did welcome it."

Tigress managed a slight smile upon hearing those latest five words. Before long, though, despair got the best of her. She took Po in her arms and buried her face in his chest. The talk about the two hugs they shared also brought back some painful memories from the battle of Gongmen City, and Tigress looked as though she was about to cry.

"What's wrong, Tigress?" Po asked, sounding very concerned.

"I just remembered seeing you getting shot by Shen's cannon," Tigress replied, sounding slightly upset. "It was so horrible to watch. I felt like part of me got blasted into the river along with you. After me and the others were captured, Monkey was the only one able to retain any fighting spirit. Not me, though. I couldn't do it. I thought I'd lost you, Po. We all thought you were dead. No pain I'd ever experienced before was worse."

Tigress sounded noticeably choked up at this point.

"If only that gorilla hadn't held me back, I would've gotten to you in time to save you, Po," she said, trying to pull herself together.

"No you wouldn't," Po calmly rebuked her. "You would've ended up in the river along with me. Just like what happened in the harbor."

Unfortunately, all of this just made things worse for Tigress. She tightened her embrace on Po, fearing that if she let go, he'd disappear forever. Po looked down at the tiger master, the look on her face showing the signs of tears that threatened to fall like a monsoon from her eye sockets. The panda reassuringly hugged her and even managed to catch a tear that did manage to escape from her right eye. Clearly, Tigress wasn't the same cold, unfeeling being he had always seen of her. If Po wasn't convinced of this by the hug she gave him in Gongmen Jail, he certainly was by now.

"It's okay, Tigress. I'm not going anywhere," Po spoke in a comforting voice as he gently patted her back. "That's it. Just let it out, Ti. Let it out."

Not too far away, Shifu and the rest of the Five heard the whole conversation.

"My word," Shifu said after hearing the last of the talk Po and Tigress had shared. "She was really that affected by what happened in the Fireworks Factory?"

"Surprisingly, yes", put in Viper.

"None of us had ever seen her like that before," added Crane. "And I really hope we never see her like that again."

"So, what exactly did happen?" asked Shifu.

*_Flashback scene*_

"GAH!" Po exclaimed as the fireball from Shen's largest cannon struck the wok he was holding in front of him as a shield.

"NO!" Tigress yelled as she desperately attempted to reach him. It was too late. The cannonball and Po zoomed past her less than a second before she could get in the way. After Po was blasted out of the Fireworks Factory, Shen, sure that the panda who was prophecized to have stood between him and domination over all of China was dead, laughed manically in triumph.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed throughout the factory. Tigress had let loose an incredibly loud roar that left many of those in the factory with a very painful ringing in their ears. No one was safe. Crane, Mantis, Monkey and Viper covered their ears to avoid going deaf. Members of both of Shen's armies did the same, as did Shen himself. Having caught them all off guard, Tigress kicked at the gorilla who had kept her from reaching Po, who then fell several stories to the factory floor and landed with a resounding "Thud". She then set off after Shen, likely with murder on her mind. Tigress was now bent on making the psychotic peacock pay for what he just did.

When she finally reached Shen, his ears were still reeling from the roar. Tigress then pounced on him, grabbed him around the throat with her fangs, and shook him violently. After that, she grabbed him by his talons and started slamming him against a nearby beam, his head taking the brunt of the impacts.

"You killed my friend, now I kill you!" Tigress exclaimed, the anger in her voice exploding forward with each passing second. If her intent wasn't clear before, it certainly was now. Tigress was so bent on making Shen pay with his life for taking Po's life (or so she thought he did) that she didn't see another gorilla guard approach her from behind wielding a wok similar to the one Po had for his shield. The gorilla swung the wok and struck Tigress right in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. She then fell off the wooden plank catwalk and plummeted several stories, landing headfirst on another catwalk. Crane, Mantis, Monkey and Viper had already been captured.

_*Flashback scene ends*_

"So that's what happened?" asked Shifu.

"We were there to see all that happen, Master," Viper replied.

"It was absolutely terrifying," added Mantis, "and I really hope we never have to go through that again."

"You said it," Monkey added in agreement.

Those comments left Shifu in shock. Never before had he known Tigress to act in such a way.

"The mast is fixed and the boat is ready," said the captain, who had approached the masters of the Jade Palace.

"Okay, thank you," Shifu responded. "Come on, everyone. Let's go home."

Everyone proceeded back toward the boat. While on the way back, a lingering question started leaning on Po's mind.

"Say, can I ask you something?" Po asked.

"Go ahead," Tigress responded.

"When we were on the boat headed for Gongmen City and we were both outside, and I said how hardcore you were, it seemed like you were gonna say something before the other came out. What were you about to say?"

Tigress paused to gather her thoughts. Po wasn't sure if he'd upset her by asking her that. Eventually, he got his answer.

"I was gonna say that I wasn't always so hardcore. When I was young, back at the orphanage, I was considered a monster, one with no emotional capacity at all," Tigress replied. "But you probably already knew that."

"Yes I did," said Po.

"But to tell you the truth I do feel things, Po," Tigress added. "Mostly emotional, not so much physical. But yes, Po, I do feel pain."

"I can tell," said Po.

"Between being called a monster and having the kind of upbringing I did, that's how I became the kind of emotionless, stone-hearted person who blocked everything and everyone out of my heart," Tigress continued. "Then you came along and tore down the walls that took me 20 years to build up. Because of you, I've experienced so much of what I missed out on as a child."

"I know what you mean," said Po.

He then placed his left paw on Tigress' right cheek and spoke again. "Tigress, I want you to know, I've never thought of you as a monster at all. Even when I first came to the Jade Palace and you were so cold to me, I never looked down on you."

"Really?" asked Tigress. "After all those horrible things I said to you, you never hated me?"

" Well, I can't say that I enjoyed it," Po responded "But while I hated hearing those words, I was never able to bring myself to hating those who said them. I had too much respect for you and the Five to have those kind of thoughts. That hasn't changed at all."

Tigress had a surprised look on her face. What she heard left her shocked to the core. Po's revelation that despite the resentment she showed him when they first met, he never held a grudge against her, was another truth she was definitely not ready for.

At that point, Shifu had approached the spot where Po and Tigress were talking to let them know that the boat was ready for them to resume their journey home.

"The boat is ready, you two," said Shifu after he stopped walking.

"Yes, Master," both Po and Tigress replied, bowing to their master at the same time. They then followed Shifu to the dock where their ride home was waiting for them. After Shifu and four of the Furious Five had climbed onto the boat, Po was up next to get on, followed by Tigress. When she tried to get on, however, she felt a sudden, throbbing pain in her head that caused her to lose her balance. Po managed to catch her, but she landed on top of him in a noticeably awkward position. Tigress was clutching her head at the time and her face had an expression of incredible pain.

"Are you alright, Tigress?!" Shifu asked in a panicked tone.

"My head hurts very badly," Tigress replied, her face still twisted in pain while she spoke. "AH!" she screamed in agony.

"Come on, we've got to get back to the Valley of Peace, and fast!" exclaimed Shifu.

The boat captain, hearing the severity of Tigress' situation, didn't waste any time getting the boat sailing back to the Valley of Peace.

After two days of travel, Po, Shifu, and the Furious Five arrived back in the Valley of Peace. Once they docked up at a river port in the Valley's boundaries, it took about 1/3 of a day to walk the rest of the way to their home village. In addition to the panda doll Po found at his old home, he was also carrying a crate full of radishes that he needed to deliver to his dad's noodle shop. Tigress, meanwhile, was still fighting those immense pains she was feeling in her head. She was having some trouble walking straight and was leaning on Po in addition getting some aerial help from Crane so that she didn't fall over.

"You need any more of my help?" Po asked when they reached the steps leading up to the Jade Palace.

"We can take it from here, Po," Shifu replied. "You can go ahead and deliver that crate to your dad's noodle shop."

"Okay," said Po.

"One us will come and let you know if anything changes," added Monkey.

"Sounds good to me," Po put in as he headed off to the noodle shop.

It was almost dark outside when Po began to make his way back to the Jade Palace. He made it to the base of the stairs just as Crane was on his way down them. The two met about 20 steps up, Crane having a worried look on his face.

"How's Tigress doing?" Po asked.

"It's more serious than we thought," Crane replied.

"Really?" Po asked again, this time with a more surprised look on his face.

"I'm afraid so," Crane responded.

Seeing his panda comrade exhausted, Crane offered to give Po a lift up the stairs. A minute and a half later, they reached the student barracks and the infirmary where Tigress was being attended to. Her head was bandaged up and she looked like she was sleeping.

"What did I miss?" asked Po as he and Crane entered the infirmary.

"She just collapsed after we made it up the stairs," Viper replied.

"All of us had to carry her in here," added Monkey.

At this point, the palace medic stepped forward.

"She's clearly suffered some head trauma," said the palace medic. "It's not serious enough to be fatal, but it is serious enough to leave her in a coma. I'm not sure how long she'll be in it, though. It could be a few hours to a few days or longer."

Po felt his heart sink as he heard about the severity of Tigress' condition.

"Is she gonna have to stay here for the night?" asked Shifu.

"We will keep her here overnight just to be on the safe side," replied the medic. "There's not much more we can do right now. All we can do is wait, and hope."

Po then joined the rest of the Five at Tigress' bedside. He sat down on a stool next to the bed, sighed in despair, and held Tigress' left paw with both of his.

_"Come on, Tigress,"_ Po thought. _"Please wake up. You can beat this head injury. I know you can."_ His thoughts escaped as faint whispers through his vocal chords, hoping his injured comrade would hear them. The rest of the Five were also in a state of despair and uncertainty. They were just as shocked and saddened as Po was when they themselves heard the news.

"Look, you people can go back to your rooms for the night, okay," said the medic. "We'll let you know if her condition changes. There's really not a whole lot any of us can do right now."

Seeing how late it was getting, Shifu agreed.

"Come everyone," he said. "Let's get some sleep. We can check back in the morning."

Crane, Mantis, Monkey and Viper followed Shifu out of the infirmary. Po, on the other hand, was slow to respond. After a few seconds, he reluctantly released his grip on Tigress' paw and stood up."

"Goodnight, Tigress," Po whispered before leaning down and planting a gentle "get well soon" kiss on her forehead. He then left the infirmary, his face still one of despair.

"Po, may I have a word with you?" asked Shifu, who was waiting for him outside the infirmary.

"Yes, Master," Po answered back, after which they began to walk toward the barracks.

Shifu led Po outside before talking to him.

"Po, is it true you had to confront your past while on the mission?" Shifu asked.

"Yes, Master Shifu, it's true," Po replied. "I found out that Shen was responsible for me ending up in the Valley of Peace in the first place. My parents managed to save me from Shen and his wolf army. As for what happened to them, I don't know for sure. My mother almost certainly was killed, and I have no idea what happened to my father."

Much like Tigress was when Po told her the story, Shifu was left surprised as well.

"No wonder you found inner peace so fast," said Shifu, still smirking over the fact that it took him nearly 50 years to do so.

"Well, you had a hand in it, too," added Po. "Thank you."

Shifu managed to crack a slight smile at that comment.

"You're welcome, Dragon Warrior," Shifu responded in kind. "I, uh, heard what happened in the Fireworks Factory. I've never heard Tigress get so rattled and upset over something before. Not even all those times she failed to get a kick or punch right the first time."

"I didn't know that side of her existed, either," said Po. "I always thought she was this hardcore being who knew nothing of pain. I was clearly proven wrong."

"Clearly," added Shifu. "Po, I don't know how to managed to get Tigress' soft side to come out. But whatever you did, I'm glad you did it. I could tell life for everyone here was getting better since you arrived. I never realized how much better it was gonna get until now. I don't think I can ever thank you enough, Po."

"I'll take any thank you that you give, Master," said Po, who was starting to sound a bit drowsy at this point. The fact that he yawned just made it all the more clear how exhausted he was.

"Well, we both better get some sleep, Po," put in Shifu, who was also very tired. "I'll see you in the morning."

The next morning, Tigress did wake up from the coma she was in the night before. She was still dizzy and her vision was very blurry, but at least she was awake and as alert as possible, considering her condition. Po, Shifu, and the rest of the Five went to visit her in the infirmary after waking up.

"Where… where am I?" asked Tigress as she woke.

"You're in the infirmary at the Jade Palace," the palace medic replied.

At that point, everyone else entered the room.

"How is she doing?" asked Shifu. His face brightened a little bit when he saw Tigress awake, even if dazed.

"She's awake," the palace medic replied. "Unfortunately, the head injury she suffered has affected her short-term memory. This is common with such injuries. She's also been very dizzy and can barely put her head up without her symptoms getting worse."

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Po, who sounded just as or even more concerned than Shifu.

"It's still too early to say for sure," the medic responded. "We predict she'll make a full recovery. But we can't say for sure how long it will take. The best way to help Tigress recover her memory is to surround her with familiar settings and objects. The more familiar she is with said object/setting, the better."

Over the next few days, Po, Shifu, and the rest of the Furious Five were kept busy helping Tigress gain her memory back. They still managed to keep training, which was included as part of the plan to help get Tigress' memory back. Slowly but surely, it did work. Before long, Tigress' memory returned and she was back doing what she did best.

THE END


End file.
